Meet Leyna R: She Puts the Go-Getter in G.I.R.L.

The young women featured in this series have not only earned Girl
Scouts’ highest honor by being named 2016 National Young Women of
Distinction—they also serve as incredible examples of what it means
to be a G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader)™.

Like most teenagers, I was pretty excited to get my driver’s permit.
I couldn’t wait to have the independence that would go along with
having a real license. That first day in the car with the driving
instructor was great. Sure, I was still learning what I was doing, but
the teacher was so patient with me, and everything went so smoothly.
It wasn’t super easy or anything, but it was fun and I couldn’t wait
to practice again.

But the next time I went out for a drive couldn’t have been more
different. Cars were honking at me, driving way too close, and even
cutting me off in traffic. I was terrified that I was going to get
hurt or hurt someone else—it was horrible. I couldn’t figure out what
had gone wrong. Just the other day with the instructor, it had been so
much easier! And then it hit me: the driving school car had “driving
school” painted all over it, so people knew I was just learning and
gave me more space on the road. When I was in my parents’ car, though,
nobody knew I was a new driver, so people assumed I knew what I was doing.

I’d gone from really looking forward to driving to actually dreading
it overnight, but I knew that if I was ever going to be a good driver,
I’d have to get out there again. This time, though, I wanted to make
sure other drivers knew what they were dealing with—so I grabbed some
cardboard and made a sign that said “student driver” in big letters
and stuck it in the back window of the car. Sure, I was a little
worried that my friends would see the sign and think I was a super
dork, but I was more worried about getting into a car crash, so the
sign stayed put and driving got a whole lot easier and safer.

When my friends started driving and experienced the same thing I
had, I knew it wasn’t just me who had this problem, and that really
every new driver could use a sign like mine. And that’s how the idea
of my Gold Award project was born! I worked with local organizations
and corporations to design and produce bright yellow student driver
decals that teenagers could put on the outside of their car. I started
giving them out at high schools and driving schools, but I want kids
outside my local area to have access to the decals, too, which is why
I’ve been working with the government to create a law that would make
sure every DMV in the state would have our decals available to new
drivers. My bill hasn’t been written into law yet, but I’ve spoken in
front of the Senate Appropriations Committee and am working with my
assembly member to make sure it gets passed next year.

In the meantime, more than 600 decals have been put to use by new
drivers, keeping them, their passengers, and their fellow drivers a
lot safer. A lot of people have thanked me for my work on this, but I
really have to thank Girl Scouts. Being a Girl Scout for 13 years gave
me the tools I needed to grow into a leader in my community and
improved my life in so many ways. I not only know how to stand up for
myself—I know how to use my political voice to make a difference in
the world. It makes me so happy to know that millions of other girls
are getting the same toolkit and preparing to change the world with
their own Gold Award projects.